Mirror Mirror
by LisaJ
Summary: An AU version of SG1 visits the SGC; General Hammond ponders the differences between the two teams.


MIRROR, MIRROR  
  
Part I  
  
General George Hammond stood in the doorway of the briefing room at Cheyenne Mountain. Inside were four familiar figures, Colonel Jack O'Neill, Major Samantha Carter, Dr. Daniel Jackson and Teal'c. However, they were not the SG1 team General Hammond had known for five years. This version of SG1 had stumbled through the Quantum Mirror the day before, apparently by accident. However, as they posed no threat, General Hammond had decided to question them in the hopes of gaining useful information.   
  
"It wasn't my fault Jack, I couldn't help going through the mirror and I didn't mean to drag you with me," Daniel said. "Anyway, you tripped me."   
  
"Did not," Jack said.   
  
"Did too," Daniel responded.   
  
"Did not," Jack rejoined.   
  
"Jaaack," Daniel said.   
  
Overhearing the conversation, General Hammond smiled, remembering happier days when his O'Neill and Dr. Jackson would bicker like siblings. Although, come to think of it, the General couldn't recall the last time he had heard the two men banter like that. It had to have been well before Dr. Jackson was killed. Yes, it must have been nearly two years since his Colonel and archeologist had shared such a friendly exchange.   
  
Jack looked around at the briefing room, noting the subtle differences from his own reality. Several people entered the room. General Hammond, Major Carter, Teal'c, this reality's version of himself and, wait a minute, that wasn't Daniel. It was some new guy, no one Jack had ever seen before. 'Who on earth was this joker?' the Colonel wondered. 'Where was Daniel?'  
  
"Your team seems to be missing a member," Jack stated, glancing at the unfamiliar face of the fourth man. "Where's Danny, or shouldn't I ask?" he said uneasily.   
  
"Our Daniel had a little accident, he's no longer around," the alternate Colonel O'Neill replied, indifferently.   
  
"An accident, what happened to him? Is he all right?" Jack exclaimed, horrified.   
  
"It was his own fault, he was doing his usual do-gooder thing and got fried by some nuclear stuff," O'Neill said.   
  
"Oh my god," Sam cried in horror, sickened at the thought of Daniel suffering radiation sickness.   
  
"What do you care? You didn't know him," O'Neill said, clearly puzzled as to why these people would be concerned about Daniel Jackson.   
  
Jack stared at the alternate O'Neill in astonishment. 'How could he be so cold? This was Daniel he was talking about. Daniel, not some anonymous airman.' Jack noticed that the alternate Carter wasn't exactly broken up by her Daniel's death either. 'What was wrong with these people? Daniel wasn't just a co-worker, he was family.' Once, years ago, when Jack had thought Daniel was lost forever he actually smashed General Hammond's car window with his hockey stick, and planned to resign. It was unthinkable that losing Daniel could be shrugged off, and yet, these other versions of his team seemed to think so. As for their Teal'c, why the man was practically a mute. All Jack had seen him do is raise one eyebrow. Obviously the Jaffa did not play a large role in this universe. Only General Hammond, Sgt. Siler and Doctor Fraiser seemed normal.   
  
"Does not the absence of DanielJackson impede your exploration of other worlds?" Teal'c asked.   
  
"We don't go through the gate much anymore," O'Neill responded, after recovering from the shock of hearing the Jaffa actually speak. "Most of our time is spent here on Earth, training cadets, dealing with the Pentagon, trying to outfox the NID. I can't remember the last time we made contact with a new civilization. It's not like Jackson had anything much to do towards the end," he continued, shrugging.   
  
'What on earth happened to these folks?,' Jack wondered. 'They're not a team, they're just a bunch of people who happen to work together. And the new guy, they think this mook's a substitute for Daniel? Daniel, the guy who made it all happen, the one who opened the gate, figured out the stellar drift. The man who forged alliances with so many civilizations. Unfreaking believable. And this new guy, what a weasel. He looks like an aging teen idol. What the hell is he doing on the team?'.   
  
The conversation turned to the replicators. Jack described how he had been beamed up to Thor's ship, and how, after destroying the ship, he, Sam and Teal'c had gated to safety.   
  
"How long were you stranded, Colonel? the General asked. "My people were gone for nine days."   
  
"Stranded! We didn't stay on that lame-ass planet for crying out loud. As soon as we got there Carter dialed up The Land of Light and we booked it through the gate ASAP. Got some good fishing done, Teal'c saw his kid. Anyhoo, something about that place really creeped me out," Jack said, shaking his head. "The DHD worked so why did you guys stick around?" he asked, puzzled.   
  
O'Neill and Carter exchanged glances. Ignoring the question, Carter began to talk about various alien technologies she had encountered, while O'Neill fiddled with his coffee cup, nearly knocking it over.  
  
Carter mentioned Anise. Sam's face lit up. "Oh yes, Anise, the Tok'ra scientist who was working with us last year. I really loved working with her," she said.   
  
"You did?" Carter asked, incredulously.  
  
"You didn't?" Sam responded, confused. What could this woman possibly have found to dislike about Anise. She was such a sweet, kind lady, always so well dressed.   
  
Carter muttered something under her breath about Tok'ra Barbie before continuing her monologue.   
  
Sam couldn't help but notice the word "I" coming out of her alternate's mouth every five seconds. 'Yeesh, does she never stop talking about herself. To hear her say it, SHE discovered the secret of the Stargate, not Daniel, SHE came up with the solution for the asteroid, not Daniel, SHE is Jack's best friend, not Daniel. Not to mention every man she meets falls madly in love with her. She's so perfect I'm surprised she doesn't walk on water. St. Sam of Cheyenne Mountain. I can't wait to get back to my own world,' Sam thought.   
  
After several hours they had had enough of this world. 'Let's get out of here, now, ' each thought.   
  
"It's been a blast kids, but it's time to hit the road before the entropy thing kicks in," Jack said.   
  
"Colonel, it's been a pleasure to meet you and your team. I'm sorry you can't stay longer," General Hammond said, shaking Jack's hand.   
  
As they approached the quantum mirror Jack noticed Daniel's unhappy expression.   
  
"What's wrong buddy?" the Colonel asked gently.  
  
"He's dead, I'm dead, and they just don't seem to care," Daniel replied, troubled. "He's gone and they just went on with their lives as if he never existed."   
  
"Hey, Danny, that wasn't not you, they're not us. Thank god they're not us, " Jack said emphatically, putting his hand on Daniel's shoulder.   
  
"Your loss would cause much consternation DanielJackson. It would not be possible to envision the continued functioning of Stargate SG1 without your presence. You are indeed our brother," Teal'c proclaimed.   
  
"Ditto Big Guy," Jack said, smiling.   
  
Sam hugged Daniel. "I'm just glad to get out of there and back home to Martouf," she said. "For some reason these people give me the willies. And as for their Carter, did you see her hair?" Sam said. "It made her look so, so."   
  
"Don't ask, don't tell," Jack responded, smirking.   
  
"Not that there's anything wrong with that," Daniel said, grinning.  
  
"Indeed," Teal'c declaimed, a hint of a smile on his face.  
  
The four teammates laughed and stepped through the mirror. From a distance General Hammond watched them go.   
  
Part II   
  
After the visitors departed General Hammond retreated to his office. Something about meeting the alternate reality version of SG1 has left the General feeling that something was badly wrong. He couldn't help but compare the two teams, and, unfortunately, his team came up short. The parallel team was everything his team wasn't. Professional, loyal, obviously fond of each other without any signs of inappropriate feelings towards one another. The alternate version of SG1 had continued to function as a cohesive unit, a family, unlike his SG1 of recent years.   
  
That was it, the alternate team wasn't different, HIS team was. But why? General Hammond analyzed the differences between the O'Neills, Carters and Teal'cs. The only member of his team whose personality hadn't changed for the worse had been Dr. Jackson. The other three simply weren't the same people he had met five years ago. Why they had been acting out of character for nearly two years now, the General realized.   
  
Recalling the conversation earlier that day, when the alternate Colonel asked them why they had stayed on the planet even though it had a functioning DHD, General Hammond realized that neither O'Neill or Carter had answered the question. Instead Carter had quickly changed the subject.   
  
General Hammond remembered the moment Teal'c, Carter and O'Neill stepped through the gate. Dr. Jackson had rushed from his sick bed to greet them, but the trio couldn't have cared less. That was completely unlike them, especially O'Neill. 'Why didn't I realize something was wrong? Then the uncharacteristic way Major Carter and Colonel O'Neill acted towards each other. First they gave the least convincing performance of two people in love I have ever seen, and then, without any explanation, they started acting as if they cared nothing about each other. The hostility O'Neill constantly showed Dr. Jackson. And Teal'c, he's barely spoken a word in months. They've been acting oddly ever since they beamed up to Thor's ship. What happened to them? What caused their personalities to change so drastically? Come to think of it, why did they accept Jonas so readily? Nothing in the man's character or history would indicate he was trustworthy, but yet they were so quick to accept him as a replacement for Dr. Jackson.' the General thought.   
  
The General sat alone, lost in thought for a long time before coming to a conclusion.   
  
Later that day, in General Hammond's office:   
  
"Something wrong General?" Carter asked.  
  
"Something's been wrong for a very long time, Major, and I intend to find the answer," the General replied.   
  
'Took you long enough to figure it out, didn't it Georgie?' O'Neill sneered silently.   
  
Hammond gazed at the trio, his normal genial demeanor gone, replaced by anger and an implacable determination to find the truth.   
  
He took a deep breath, "Who are you people, and what did you do with the real SG1?"   
  
The End 


End file.
